


But Wait, There's More

by GealachGirl



Series: The Trouble With Soulmates [6]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Soulmate AU, ensemble practice, established relationships - Freeform, first thing your soulmate says to you, you can see background pairings if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 00:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7292995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GealachGirl/pseuds/GealachGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every now and again everyone gets together for dinner and to catch up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But Wait, There's More

George Luz was a lucky man.

He had a large group of great friends, and every day for the past who-even-knew-how-long, he woke up next to his soulmate. Or on top of him or underneath him. The point was that he got to see Joe the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night and usually a couple of times during the day.

“What do you mean there’s more to the guest list?” Joe looked nonplussed, but Luz didn’t let that bother him.

“I mean that there are more people coming over than there were before.” Joe shook his head in response and didn’t say anything else.

“I know that we don’t have that much space, but we only all get together a few times a year anyway. One day of this won’t kill anyone.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Joe muttered, turning back to the stove. Luz rolled his eyes.

“You’re not going to kill any of my friends, most of whom are your friends, too, ya pain in the ass.” Luz could practically feel Joe’s smirk from the other side of the kitchen and shook his head a little, though there was a smile pushing at his own mouth. He moved to join Joe at the stove and elbowed him lightly.

****************

Luz had been right of course. He didn’t really do boasting though. And besides, Joe was cleaning up in the other room. Instead, he dwelled on how right he’d been.

Everything had gone well and no one had died. Even if Luz had accidently helped create the last thing that needed to exist, it had all been a success and they’d gotten through their turn of hosting.

*************

In Joe’s defense, there _were_ a lot of people currently in their apartment. In Luz’s defense, he’d forgotten how small their apartment technically was since personal space really wasn’t that important when it was the two of them.

Luz had gone back to the kitchen to get some more drinks and he surveyed the room in front of him. Perco was sitting on the couch and catching up with Bill, Malarkey, Skip, and Penk. Lieb was with them, too. Babe and Gene were sitting beside them, but it looked like they were having their own conversation. They all took up the whole couch and that alone took up a significant amount of the space in the living room.

On another side of the room standing by the wall, Dick, Nix, Lip, and Brad were talking and Luz was interested to know what that might be about.

“Hey, I have a great idea,” Ray said coming up beside him from behind, “and Webster’s already on board with it.” Luz raised his eyebrows and looked to where Web hovered a little behind Ray. The look on his face was less sure than Ray made it sound.

“Hit me with it.” There was an excited spark in Ray’s eyes that intrigued Luz.

“What if we got all of the scary ones together? Just to see what happens.”

A slow, delighted smile spread across Luz’s face and he glanced back to where Joe was getting the food out of the oven. “I like it.”

They had to look for Speirs, and then it was a matter of convincing Lip and then pulling their respective soulmates away from what they were doing.

“So this is Web’s soulmate, Lieb, and Ray’s soulmate, Brad,” Luz explained to Joe, “and I don’t think you’ve met Speirs yet.”

“Right. How did you meet Ray again?”

“Engineering conference last week,” Joe shook his head, “and then you remember that I met Web when we were in college.”

“Yeah I know Web.”

Lip and Web were still getting their soulmates but Ray was back, vibrating a little next to a suspicious-looking Brad. 

Joe and Brad shook hands, giving each other a look like they were sizing each other up and sharing understanding at the same time.

“Nice you could make it on such short notice,” Joe said. “Luz picks up new friends like stray animals.”

Brad smiled wryly. “No problem. We can’t go anywhere without Ray making friends.”

“Oh, I know exactly how that goes.” There was a lazy, mocking grin on Joe’s face now too.

Luz watched the exchange in disbelief. “It occurs to me that this may have backfired on us,” he observed to Ray as Joe and Brad continued bonding at his and Ray’s expense.

“Goddammit.”

It got worse when Web and Lip came up with Lieb and Speirs and they all started talking.

“Well, what happens when we get the scary ones together is that we create a death squad,” Ray said, watching Brad and Speirs get along with a look of mild horror on his face.

*************

After the death squad was created and they’d all done more bonding than Luz had expected from any of them, he’d gone back to the kitchen to check on the food and the cookies in the oven since Joe was busy. And that was where he was ambushed.

“Ooh! Cookies! Luz you didn’t tell me these were going to be here! They your ma’s recipe?” Perco asked, practically climbing over him. Almost the whole group that had been on the couch was suddenly flocked around him and Luz waved them away like flies, though it didn’t work nearly as well.

“Hey! Hey! Get offa me you filthy animals.” He held the pan over his head—not that it did him a whole lot of good—and tried to get to his counter.

“You heard the man, go back to taking up space in the other room and wait for a goddamn second,” a voice cut in behind him. Finally and reluctantly, the wave receded in a chorus of grumbling.

“Oh thank God,” Luz set the pan down and turned to face Joe. “Toye, you’re my hero,” he fluttered his eyelashes and leaned closer to put his hands flat on Joe’s chest. “A real goddamn prince.”

Joe’s eyes gleamed at that in the way that Luz loved and his expression melted a little. Luz was the only person Joe was ever “soft” around, though he did thaw a little when it came to their friends. He put his hands on Luz’s waist and pulled him closer.

“Oh yeah? And what do I get in return for saving you from the hordes?” His normally husky voice got even more so when he lowered it like that and Luz felt it like a shiver shooting down his spine from his scalp.

“Well,” he leaned up so their eyes were more level and Joe tilted his head down to match Luz’s movements, “maybe—”

“Hey, Luz, we need you out here!” Malarkey yelled.

The moment was abruptly broken and Luz leaned up for a short kiss before he turned away. “Jesus Christ, like a bunch of toddlers out there,” he muttered. Although now that he said that, he remembered that they all had a tendency to break things when left alone. He raised his voice toward the other room, “What?”

“Oh for God’s sake, you live with him. Stop acting like we interrupted any of your alone time and get your ass out here to help with the table,” Bill called back.

“We’d do it ourselves, but the table’s bigger than your apartment and we don’t wanna risk our lives by moving something,” Babe added.

“You got the rest of the food?” Luz asked over his shoulder. Joe nodded and shoved him a little toward the living room.

“Take care of them and keep them from breaking anything. We can talk about it later,” Joe assured him.

*****************

Luz scrubbed at the same cookie sheet, scraping away the dried bits that had stuck to it before he put it in the dishwasher. He grabbed another pan and set to work on it.

Joe had outdone himself with the cooking today, and when it was all finally done everyone had massed around the table, especially the people who knew what was in store. Even Perco couldn’t complain.

There had been struggles over some of the dishes, but everyone had gotten dished up and settled down after Dick had stepped in to organize.

That was when Malarkey had asked about Speirs. He worked in the same building Luz and Lip did, so it wasn’t surprising that he knew who Speirs was. But he was among the uneducated masses that believed the rumors people spread.

So Lip had stepped up to explain.

*******************

Lip’s smile was carried away and even Speirs looked slightly less intimidating than he normally did. “So that’s how we met.”

Luz smirked behind his glass. “And it was about time, too. How did it take a year for you to share the elevator?”

Speirs was staring at him, but his stare didn’t have much of an effect on Luz. Lip just rolled his eyes at him, still smiling. The sight of that smile and the two of them sitting together made Luz smile back, abandoning the teasing.

“Wait’ll you hear about me and Brad,” Ray said, clearly excited to share. Brad had a long-suffering look on his face, but Luz spotted a hint of embarrassment underneath it.

And that set off a round of storytelling. Because the Californians were new to the group and the Philly squad hadn’t seen the Jersey squad since before Babe and Gene had gotten together, everyone went ahead to tell their stories.

After Brad and Ray, Babe and Gene told their story and how their words had played out unexpectedly in the hospital. Web and Lieb chimed in right after that—“Wait, we were at that accident. That’s how we met.”—and then Dick and Nix shared.

“Jesus Christ,” Bill swore softly when they were done, drawing out the vowels.

Luz felt the same way. He’d known that they’d had more of a struggle than a lot of other people did, but he’d never heard the full story. He suspected that there was even more to it than they were saying, judging by the expression on Nix’s face and the way he gripped his glass a little more tightly on the table.

It made him thankful that he’d found his soulmate a long time ago and that they’d had such an easy time of it. Their knees knocked together under the table when they both moved to provoke the contact and Luz took some comfort in the rush of warmth that spread through him.

“Well let me tell you how I met my Frannie. Then Perco’s gonna tell us all how he met his wife and we’re all gonna recover from that,” Bill said decisively.

Dick laughed a little and moved his hand to cover Nix’s. Nix visibly relaxed and flipped his hand around to lace their fingers together. “Well it turned out pretty great in the end, so I’m not complaining about the before,” he said offhandedly. Dick’s smile took on a different, softer shape.

“And we are, so get on with it Gonorrhea,” Skip said impatiently.

Bill obliged and when he finished, the other stories that the room had to offer were told.

At some point, everyone had migrated over to squeeze back into the reduced living room area, but conserving space wasn’t really much of a problem.

Gene and Babe were cuddled together in a corner of the couch, Babe’s legs thrown over Gene’s lap. Ray was shamelessly sitting on Brad and Brad was folded around him as if he wasn’t even there. Web and Lieb probably couldn’t be closer together if they tried and Speirs had his arm around Lip as they sat next to each other.

Dick and Nix were sharing one of the armchairs that Luz and Joe had specifically for company. Luz was with Joe in the other. Neither was exactly big enough for two people, but they all managed.

“So what about you two?” Dick asked from slightly behind Nix’s shoulder.

“Who, us?” Luz asked.

“Yeah,” Bill said from the floor beside the couch, “I know everyone’s story but yours and I know everythin’ about Joe but his story.”

“That’s cause they change their story all the time,” Penk piped up. Perco nodded and agreed loudly from his folding chair and suddenly everyone was asking for their story.

“Alright, alright! Hey!” Joe said, voice rising and vibrating through Luz’s back and ribcage. He turned his face toward Luz, eyebrows raised. “Luz? You wanna indulge ‘em?” There was a spark in his eyes and Luz grinned.

“Why, Toye, I never thought you’d ask,” he said, turning back to the room at large. He put his hands together and thought for a second.

“It was a summer evening. The summer before college started. I’d just got off of work at my dad’s offices, saving up y’know, and I walked into this little diner before my train came in. I sat down at the counter and this handsome schmuck walked over with a notebook in his hand, scowling like he hated everything.

“He just looked at me, didn’t even say anything, just looked at me and waited for my order. And I had a feeling about who he might be. I knew what my words were after all.”

“What are your words? We’ve never known that either,” Malarkey asked.

“Calm down, I’m getting there,” Luz admonished. “So I went out on a limb and leaned over the counter and said, ‘Well, I’ve made quite the catch.’ And Toye responded in exactly the way you’d expect. He leaned against the counter right across from me and leveled this look at me and said, with this dead expression on his face,—”

“Are you fucking serious?” Joe chimed in from behind him. Luz’s grin widened.

“To which, of course, I replied, ‘As a heart attack.’ And then he was still looking at me without any kind of expression, so I pulled him across the counter to convince him,” Luz finished. “And there you go, that’s how the two of us got together. Happy?”

Sarcastic applause came from the peanut gallery and Joe and Luz took mock bows.

“Buncha assholes,” Babe muttered. Gene put his hand on Babe’s head and pushed it back down to his shoulder, but Perco tipped his glass in Babe’s direction.

“He’s got a point, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” Skip asked.

Luz just grinned back, feeling Joe’s amusement behind him.

************

Everyone had relaxed after that and they’d moved on to other topics. It had lasted until people started going the way of Babe and Gene. Joe had put his foot down there, saying that he didn’t want any of them sleeping over.

The crowd left in a trickle, with Speirs, Lip, Nix, and Dick—the most awake of the group—taking off first because of work the next day. Perco, Malarkey, Skip, and Penk had followed them because of their travel time, lingering for longer goodbyes.

Brad and Ray were next, and they left with a promise to keep in touch and to come to the next gathering, and it would be easy since they’d hit it off so well with Lieb and Web.

Those two went after them. “Thanks for inviting us,” Web said, smiling and looking far more awake than Lieb did, “I’m glad we ran into each other yesterday. It was good to see you again.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long time. You guys should come out here more often,” Luz replied. Web beamed at him and said that they’d have to do that.

Gene and Babe had taken some effort to wake up because Gene was coming off of an ungodly shift and Babe slept like the dead, but one smack to the head from Bill had done the trick for Babe. “Thanks for havin’ us over,” Gene said, supporting a groggy Babe with an arm around his shoulder.

“Any time! It was our turn anyway. I think you and Babe are coming up in a couple of months,” Luz replied. Gene looked around with an apprehensive expression in response and Luz had laughed. Then they left with Bill.

When the apartment was finally empty, Joe let out a sigh and Luz slumped back against him. “So about that thing we were talking about earlier…” he said.

“Not until we take care of this place,” Joe told him, shoving him into standing again. “I’ll get all of this put away.” He gestured to the living room. Luz rolled his eyes, but started toward the kitchen.

“I’ll get the dishes.”

*************

Luz closed the dishwasher for the last time and pressed the start button. That was when arms wrapped around his waist and a face burrowed into his neck and Luz’s skin tingled pleasantly.

Joe left himself there for a second until he pulled away to rest his chin on Luz’s shoulder, taking in the sink full of soapy, gray water. “I’m thinking Chinese take-out tomorrow. What d’you think?”

Luz pushed back into his arms and hummed. “Hell yeah.”

“Nice job earlier. That was one of your better stories.”

Luz turned around and leaned back against the counter to smile up at Joe. “You think so? Well, it’s always easier to think when we’re not in a bar with all of them. You think they’ll drop it now?”

“Don’t care,” Joe replied simply, closing the space between them and turning to crowd Luz against the island. Luz didn’t mind. He tipped his head back and went with it.

Most of the physical aspects of the soulmate bond were still there for them. He’d heard that they faded for some people, like they’d been set to simmer instead of boil. But for him and Joe, it was still electricity and feeling physically drawn together and a deep, pervasive sense of calm and certainty.

“God I love you, Georgie,” Joe told him when they parted.

Luz smiled, not quite a grin, and kissed him back. He couldn’t ever quite manage to come up with words that seemed like the right response to that. Just saying it back never felt like enough.

But Joe always seemed to get it.

When he found himself on top of the island, he wasn’t totally surprised but he still gasped. “What’s wrong, old man, your back hurting from bending over?”

“Nah, you’re just easier to reach like this.” Joe leaned in to kiss him again. “Get it? ‘Cause you’re so short?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I already made the joke. You ain’t that much taller than me.”

“Tall enough.” Joe dropped to his knees then and Luz’s eyebrows flew up.

“On the island in the kitchen wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” he observed.

“Oh yeah?” Joe stood up again, looking at him intently. “What was it that you had in mind?” Luz reached out toward Joe’s belt loops and pulled him forward so he was slotted between his legs.

“I was thinking about a mattress, for one thing. We’d start there, and then I thought we could come up with the rest as we went along. What do you think about that?”

Joe’s pupils had gotten huge and he stared at Luz quietly for a couple of seconds, watching him. Luz grinned slowly and waited. It was almost always worth it.

When Joe lunged forward to kiss him long and deep again, moving his hands to grasp Luz’s thighs and pull him off of the counter top, it proved to be once again.

“Let’s go then.”

Luz flashed him another smile over his shoulder and turned to walk backward. “See? Good things happen when you listen to me. You should do that more often.”

“I always listen to you,” Joe said, mouth tipped into a smile as he followed slowly after Luz.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Joe. Remember that time when—”

Joe shook his head and the smile broke open into one that showed teeth. “Would you shut the fuck up? Jesus Christ.”

Luz stumbled a little in his walking backwards and smiled dizzily. The annoyance from the first time he’d ever said it—the first time he’d ever said anything to Luz—didn’t quite make it to this version of the words, but they still punched the air out of his lungs, like they did whenever Joe said them.

Even after who-even-knew-how-long.

He quirked his eyebrows and adopted his cocky, lazy flirting-tone to say his part of the pair, “Only for you, honey.” He could picture the script on Joe’s skin as he said it.

Joe full-on grinned and picked up his pace. Luz laughed and turned around to run back to their bed.

He really was very lucky, and he thanked the heavens every day for his soulmate.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright then! Unexpected series comes to a close. Now I have some thanks to dole out and some announcements.
> 
> 1\. Thank you to my beta, the amazing Rachel/alastdanceatdawn/thatsnotmozarts on tumblr  
> 2\. Thank you so much to everyone who read the series  
> 3\. Double thank you to everyone who read and left kudos  
> 4\. Triple thank you to everyone who left comments. I know every fic writer says this but comments do actually give me life and encouragement. I freak in a good way whenever I see notifications in my email inbox. And they made me feel super welcomed to this fandom that I'm still kind of new to. So really, thank you all so much.
> 
> This series is over but I won't be gone forever. I'm currently working on a chaptered ensemble AU that's going to be huge and I'm so ridiculously excited about it. [ It can be found here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9264170/chapters/20996606)
> 
> Lastly, I'm on tumblr at booksandcoffeeandink if you're so inclined. I know that there are a lot of HBO war people there, an overwhelming amount of you. I've been mostly connected through thatsnotmozarts, but I'd love to meet more people/get more into the fandom. And I don't even know where to start following. So if you follow me, I'll follow back! I'm not really an HBO war blog, but I do reblog things and ramble in the tags if that kind of content is your thing.


End file.
